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Ariz., Fla. governors face intra-party opposition to Medicaid expansion

News outlets reports that, in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott's support for the expansion was rebuffed by a Senate panel that voted against the expansion plan and instead is advancing an idea that would use federal money for private insurance.

14 Mar 2013

Applying for benefits in online marketplaces might be daunting

The Associated Press reports that the draft version of the application for a three-person family is 15 pages while the online version has 21 steps, some with additional questions.

14 Mar 2013

State roundup: Conn. bill would require kids behavioral health assessments

A selection of health policy stories from New York, Connecticut, Oregon, Idaho, Georgia, Texas and California.

14 Mar 2013

Lymphoseek receives FDA approval for breast cancer, melanoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) Injection, a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent that helps doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer or melanoma who are undergoing surgery to remove tumor-draining lymph nodes.

14 Mar 2013

Duration and exclusivity of infant breastfeeding does not prevent overweight or obesity: Study

In research that included nearly 14,000 healthy infants in Belarus, an intervention that succeeded in improving the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding during infancy did not result in a lower risk of overweight or obesity among the children at age 11.5 years, according to a study appearing in the March 13 issue of JAMA.

13 Mar 2013

Studies show prenatal nutrition may affect gene function in children's health

Pioneering studies by U. S. Department of Agriculture-funded research molecular geneticist Robert A. Waterland are helping explain how the foods that soon-to-be-moms eat in the days and weeks around the time of conception-or what's known as periconceptional nutrition-may affect the way genes function in her children, and her children's health.

13 Mar 2013

Non-invasive prenatal genetic screening: an interview with Dr. Charles Strom, Senior Medical Director, Quest Diagnostics

A new category of non-invasive genetic screening tests is gaining a great deal of interest in the medical field – including from Quest Diagnostics -- for its potential to help screen women during pregnancy for genetic abnormalities known as trisomies, the most common of which is Down syndrome.

From Quest Diagnostics 13 Mar 2013

Health law challenges leave some Democrats complaining -- in public, even

Some challenges associated with implementing the health law have some Democrats complaining about the law in public -- something once unthinkable.

13 Mar 2013

Objections to sexual, reproductive rights language in CSW agreement are 'misguided'

"[W]hile sitting through events, debates and discussions in New York [at the Commission on the Status of Women meeting], my recurring thought was why, in 2013, are we still arguing over whether women should have ownership of their own bodies?" Liz Ford, deputy editor of the Guardian's global development website, asks in the newspaper's "Poverty Matters Blog."

13 Mar 2013

Swine study shows that moderate exercise can affect ovarian cells

A short walk around the barn might improve the future fertility of Yorkshire gilts. According to research presented by Samantha Kaminski, a graduate student at North Dakota State University, swine fetuses showed significant ovarian development after their mothers exercised.

13 Mar 2013

Arkansas' abortion ban energizes backers of fetal heartbeat laws

That state's adoption of the nation's strictest abortion ban -- after 12 weeks of pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat is usually found -- is spurring advocates to push similar legislation in Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, North Dakota and Wyoming. Legal scholars say such laws have little chance of withstanding federal court scrutiny.

13 Mar 2013

Unmet need for modern contraceptive methods projected to reach more than 230 million women worldwide by 2015

New research on contraceptive prevalence and unmet need for contraception in married or co-habiting women of reproductive age (15 – 49 years), based on data from 194 countries, suggests that although the proportion of women in this group using contraception has risen in the last two decades, and unmet need has fallen, 233 million married or co-habiting women are projected to have an unmet need for modern contraceptive methods by 2015.

12 Mar 2013

Think Africa Press examines Jadelle Access Program

Think Africa Press describes how "[t]he Jadelle Access Program is aiming to make Jadelle progestogen implants -- a long-acting and reversible form of contraception -- available to more than 27 million women in more than 50 countries worldwide."

12 Mar 2013

State roundup: Sequestration's impacts include less grant dollars

Sequestration spares Medicaid and almost all of Medicare, but automatic cuts to other federal health-care programs will make it more difficult for low-income Americans to get maternal and infant care, vaccinate their children, and receive treatment for mental illness.

12 Mar 2013

Listen to women's needs when designing HIV prevention strategies

According to "results from a large HIV prevention trial among African women" known as VOICE and released last week, "none of the prevention methods tested in the study made a difference in HIV infection rates, because few women actually used them as directed," AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren writes in an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

12 Mar 2013

Women with atrial fibrilation have more symptoms and lower quality of life than men

Women with atrial fibrilation have more symptoms and lower quality of life than men with the same heart condition, according to an analysis of patients in a large national registry compiled by the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

12 Mar 2013

Super gonorrhea spreads important health message to Parliament House

NPS MedicineWise launched its policy priorities in Canberra, spreading super gonorrhea toys around Parliament House to highlight the importance of fighting antibiotic resistance.

12 Mar 2013

Nearly two-thirds of women with ovarian cancer do not receive guideline-adherent care

Women are 30 percent less likely to die of ovarian cancer if they have guideline-recommended treatment, yet nearly two-thirds of those with the disease do not receive it, often because they are cared for at hospitals that treat a small number of ovarian cancer patients.

12 Mar 2013

Study links prenatal DDT exposure to hypertension in adults

Infant girls exposed to high levels of the pesticide DDT while still inside the womb are three times more likely to develop hypertension when they become adults, according to a new study led by the University of California, Davis.

12 Mar 2013

Bringing evidence-based midwifery care to mothers and babies at the bottom of the pyramid

Healthy Mother Wellness & Care, the pioneer in introducing evidence-based scientific midwifery care in India, announced today the formation of The Healthy Mother Foundation, a non-profit trust with the mission to address the lack of affordable, accessible, and high quality maternal and newborn care in urban slums in India.

12 Mar 2013